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Recommendations Database

GAO’s recommendations database contains report recommendations that still need to be addressed. GAO’s priority recommendations are those that we believe warrant priority attention. We sent letters to the heads of key departments and agencies, urging them to continue focusing on these issues. Below you can search only priority recommendations, or search all recommendations.

Our recommendations help congressional and agency leaders prepare for appropriations and oversight activities, as well as help improve government operations. Moreover, when implemented, some of our priority recommendations can save large amounts of money, help Congress make decisions on major issues, and substantially improve or transform major government programs or agencies, among other benefits.

As of October 25, 2020, there are 4812 open recommendations, of which 473 are priority recommendations. Recommendations remain open until they are designated as Closed-implemented or Closed-not implemented.

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Federal Agency: "Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering"

2 publications with a total of 12 open recommendations

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Federally Funded Research and Development Centers: Improved Oversight and Evaluation Needed for DOD's Data Access Pilot Program
GAO-20-272, Mar 6, 2020

Director: Marie A. Mak
Phone: (202) 512-4841

6 open recommendations

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Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering should direct the Laboratories and Personnel Office to take steps to ensure that the details of the pilot program's data protections are incorporated into the existing agreements. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Status: Open

Comments: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), Laboratories and Personnel Office (L&PO) concurred with this recommendation. In May 2020, OUSD(R&E)/L&PO stated it will require the Primary Sponsor for each applicable federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) to provide documentation that shows that the details of the pilot program's data protections have been incorporated into existing sponsoring agreements and contracts, and estimated these actions would be completed in early Fall 2020.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering should direct the Laboratories and Personnel Office to take steps to ensure that the FFRDCs and sponsors are implementing the pilot program's protections for sensitive data. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Status: Open

Comments: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), Laboratories and Personnel Office (L&PO) concurred with this recommendation. In May 2020, OUSD(R&E)/L&PO stated it will task the Primary Sponsor for each applicable federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) to provide a report detailing the FFRDC's plan for implementing the pilot program's protections for sensitive data and confirming that the FFRDC is adhering to that plan. OUSD(R&E)/L&PO estimated these actions would be completed in early Fall 2020.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering should direct the Laboratories and Personnel Office to establish a monitoring and oversight mechanism to ensure that primary sponsors submit complete information on pilot projects, as required by DOD's guidance for the pilot program. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Status: Open

Comments: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), Laboratories and Personnel Office (L&PO) concurred with this recommendation. In May 2020, OUSD(R&E)/L&PO stated it will develop a monitoring and oversight plan, and estimated it would be completed in early Fall 2020.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering should direct the Laboratories and Personnel Office to develop a plan that outlines the methodology by which DOD will assess the pilot and how and when information collected will be analyzed to evaluate the pilot program. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Status: Open

Comments: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), Laboratories and Personnel Office (L&PO) concurred with this recommendation. In May 2020, OUSD(R&E)/L&PO stated it will develop and coordinate a plan that outlines the methodology by which DOD will assess the pilot as well as the methodology for collecting and analyzing information to evaluate the pilot program. OUSD(R&E)/L&PO estimated these actions would be completed in early Fall 2020.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering should direct the Laboratories and Personnel Office to develop a plan to identify and evaluate lessons learned from the pilot program. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Status: Open

Comments: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), Laboratories and Personnel Office (L&PO) concurred with this recommendation. In May 2020, OUSD(R&E)/L&PO stated it will develop a plan to identify and evaluate lessons learned from the pilot program, and estimated the plan would be completed in early Fall 2020.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering should direct the Laboratories and Personnel Office to develop a plan for obtaining input from stakeholders on the pilot program. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Status: Open

Comments: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), Laboratories and Personnel Office (L&PO) concurred with this recommendation. In May 2020, OUSD(R&E)/L&PO stated it will develop a plan to obtain stakeholder inputs for use in evaluating the pilot program, and estimated the plan would be completed in early Fall 2020.

Missile Defense: The Warfighter and Decision Makers Would Benefit from Better Communication about the System's Capabilities and Limitations
GAO-18-324, May 30, 2018

Director: Cristina Chaplain
Phone: (202) 512-4841

6 open recommendations

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Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering should ensure that the Director, MDA revises MDA policies to require that all integrated capabilities--capabilities that require integration of two or more elements--be included in a Technical Capability Declaration. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Status: Open

Comments: DOD partially concurred with this recommendation. While DOD agreed with the intent of this recommendation, DOD stated that the MDA Director will determine which major integrated capabilities should be delivered via the Technical Capability Declaration (TCD) process. MDA also noted that it is updating MDA Directive 5000.17 (estimated release in 4Q FY2020), which is intended to address this recommendation. GAO will assess the revisions when they are available. We continue to believe that in order for the agency to meet the full intent of our recommendation, it should establish in policy, a clear, definitive standard for which capabilities require a TCD delivery.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering should ensure that the Director, MDA clarifies, in written policy, the exact requirements, process, and key milestones necessary to issue a Technical Capability Declaration, including a requirement that the Assessment Requirements Review be held in such a time frame that it can provide meaningful input to MDA's test plans. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with this recommendation and contends that its new Policy Memorandum 90 meets the intent of our recommendation. However, this new Policy Memorandum leaves open the possibility of continued inconsistent application of the Technical Capability Declaration (TCD) process. In order for the agency to meet the full intent of our recommendation, MDA should establish in policy, a clear, definitive standard for which capabilities require a TCD for delivery that should be tracked over several years to ensure that the policy is followed. MDA officials noted that revisions to MDA Directive 5000.17 expected at the end of Fiscal Year 2020 will address the recommendation. We will assess the new parameters set out in the revised policy directive, when it is available. We will also continue to track how MDA implements any new policies on TCDs and whether the information is transparent.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering should ensure that the Director, MDA includes information on current undefinitized contract actions in the BMDS Accountability Report, including the not-to-exceed price, the definitization schedule, the amount of funds obligated for the undefinitized period, and any changes since the contract action was entered into. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with this recommendation and has taken steps to implement it. While we noted in our report that the BMDS Accountability Report for 2018, approved by the MDA Director on March 9, 2018 reflected that the agency had taken steps to implement this recommendation, we plan to leave this recommendation open to ensure that the BMDS Accountability Report accurately contains all undefinitized contract actions that the agency enters into through the fiscal year and whether the reporting contains the information necessary to satisfy our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering should ensure that the Director, MDA, ensures that models used for operational tests are validated and accredited for such assessments. To help achieve this, MDA should provide the BMDS Operational Test Agency all evidence previously agreed to and needed to accredit models before ground testing events, as specified in the BMDS OTA accreditation plan. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with this recommendation and stated that MDA is actively working with the BMDS Operational Test Agency (BMDS OTA) to resolve any issues associated with, and the reporting of, modeling limitations. However, according to BMDS OTA officials, while the number of accredited models has risen in recent years, some remain unaccredited. We, therefore, believe it is premature to closeout this recommendation but we will continue to track MDA's progress on taking the necessary steps to implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering should ensure that the Director, MDA includes in capability delivery packages, such as the Technical Capability Declaration memos and Operational Capability Baseline change packages, the following: a. The verification, validation, and accreditation status of the models used in operational ground tests; and b. Modeling and simulation limitations that affect operational ground test results. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with this recommendation and stated that MDA has made significant progress over the last year in these efforts. MDA will provide the Technical Capability Declaration (TCD) and Operational Capability Baseline (OCB) packages for us to assess. Until we are able to do so, we believe it is premature to closeout this recommendation. We will continue to monitor MDA's progress in taking the necessary steps.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering should ensure that the Director, MDA and the Secretaries of the Armed Services responsible for operating BMDS elements develop written agreements as soon as feasible for modeling and simulations technical and funding requirements for any BMDS elements that are service-operated but represented in BMDS performance assessments. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with this recommendation and are taking steps to implement this recommendation. We will continue to monitor the efforts necessary including finalizing and executing written agreements between MDA and any BMDS elements that are Service-operated but represented in BMDS performance assessments.